Cranwell Gliding Club is a member club of the Royal Air Force Gliding and Soaring Association (RAFGSA) and operates within the framework provided by the British Gliding Association. Membership is available to all those with close military connections, from Servicepersons and their families, to a limited number of civilians. Trial lessons are available for all members of the public: however participants will need to be in good health and sufficiently mobile to get into and out of a glider cockpit (see guidelines on contact page).

The Club operates from the North (grass) airfield at RAF Cranwell: clearly seen from the short-grass 'bow-tie' shape. The main airfield is to the South.

The iconic College Hall tower looms over the area, giving an excellent landmark for gliders returning to the site after cross-country flights

What is Gliding?

Gliding is engineless free-flight. Once a glider is launched, by aerotow or winch-launch, it will descend at a given rate: for most gliders this is around 200ft/minute. However, if rising air is encountered, flight times can be extended. Try thinking about walking down an escalator that's traveling upwards... Through skillful use of rising air (generally known as thermals, or just 'lift') glider pilots can fly for hours off one launch and travel hundreds of kms from the launch site before returning. Much more information can be found on the British Gliding Association site.

Gliding is a sporting activity suitable for all ages: the legal minimum age to fly solo is 14 years.

Glider pilots have a number of progression steps: for example... Solo, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond. Silver involves a 5 hour flight, gold includes a 300km (186miles) flight and diamond includes climbing 5000m (16000ft)

There is also a very active competition element to gliding, where pilots race one-another around a course set to recognise the weather on the day.

There's certainly more to gliding than short circuits around the Club's airfield: check out the Video Links section below. ​

Nottingham University Gliding Club

Operating alongside the Cranwell Gliding Club (CGC), we have Nottingham University Gliding Club (NUGC), who have 2 gliders of their own: a 2-seater (Grob Acro) and a single-seater (Grob Astir). CGC and NUGC tend to share assets, so there's rarely a problem getting a flight.